FOCUS IN 2002

Brazil wins fifth World Cup title

YOKOHAMA _ Brazilian superstar Ronaldo put four years of misery firmly behind him with both goals in Yokohama on Sunday night as Brazil took their fifth World Cup with a 2-0 win over Germany.

As comebacks go, this has to be up there with the best. Four years ago, Ronaldo struggled embarrassingly through Brazil's 3-0 World Cup final loss in Paris, having suffered mysterious convulsions on the morning of the match. Injuries have meant he has seen little action since, and many believed he would fail to make much impression on this World Cup.

The Brazilian public would probably have been happy to see their hero perform reasonably well in a supporting role to Rivaldo, but with eight goals in seven World Cup matches, two in the final, Ronaldo swept aside any rivals he may have had for the title of the star of the tournament.

The crowd that thronged the International Stadium for the decider were rewarded with an entertaining 90 minutes as Germany finally came out of their shell and played some of their best football of the entire competition.

The Germans made much of the early running, with the Bayer Leverkusen duo of Bernd Schneider and Oliver Neuville menacing Brazil down the flanks.

Brazilian defender Roque Junior saw his name go in the book in just the fourth minute for a ``foul on Neuville. The incident, however, merely served to prove that even Pierluigi Collina, acknowledged as the world's best referee, is not immune to the German winger's antics.

Despite Germany's territorial domination, however, it was the Brazilians who came closest to scoring in the opening half-hour as Ronaldinho once more showed flashes of the magic that has unpicked so many defenses over the past weeks.

With the threat posed by Germany's two wide men, there was little opportunity for Cafu and Roberto Carlos to get forward, and with Rivaldo unusually quiet, Ronaldinho was left with almost sole responsibility for creating openings for Ronaldo.

This he did brilliantly with a defense-splitting pass in the 19th minute, but the more-celebrated of the two Rons jabbed his shot harmlessly wide.

On the half-hour, Ronaldinho went by another route, flicking the ball over the top, but Ronaldo failed to control and his weakly-hit shot was saved by the outstretched leg of Kahn.

Brazil stepped up the pace as the half approached, with Kleberson pushing up to support the frontmen, and the midfielder was desperately unlucky with a curling effort from 25 yards in the last minute of the half that beat Kahn but came back off the crossbar.

Ronaldo completed a hat-trick of near-misses moments later, shooting on the turn from close range but seeing Kahn once again stick out a leg to deny him.

The German goalkeeper has earned his reputation as the world's best throughout this tournament, but his opposite number in the final has also performed far beyond what one would normally associate with Brazilian's in that position.

The South Americans had Marcos to thank within four minutes of the restart as he went full stretch to tip a rasping 30-yard free-kick from Neuville onto the post.

Having been kept quiet by the German defense for the entire first half, Rivaldo almost made the breakthrough from a Roberto Carlos corner in the 52nd minute, but Kahn was once more equal to his downward header.

Germany's wide men continued to cause problems, and Neuville should have done bettering the 63rd minute when he failed to get enough on a through-ball from Schneider to trouble Marcos.

The miss proved costly, as four minutes later, Brazil took the lead.

It was bitterly ironic that, having done so much to get his side to the final, Kahn was at fault for the goal. Rivaldo's shot was reasonably well struck, but with the goalkeeper positioned well, it should have been a routine stop. Instead, Kahn spilled the ball and was left scrambling to recover as Ronaldo raced in to tap home the rebound.

If anything, Brazil's second 12 minutes later was something of a mercy for Kahn. Had his blunder given away the only goal of the match, it may have been more painful, if that is possible.

It would have been equally sad if a pulsating final had been decided solely by such a goal, but Brazil's second certainly belonged on this stage.

The almost anonymous Rivaldo caused chaos in the German defense as he stepped over Kleberson's low center. Ronaldo took one touch to steady himself before firing home off the foot of the upright.

It was a deserved win for the Brazilians, who at times produced some sparkling football to defy those who said Felipe Scolari's team would ruin the image of the country's football for all time and leave the originators of the Beautiful Game among the also-rans.

With a fifth championship in the bag, it is the rest who now have all the catching up to do.

What a great FIFA world cup. I spent my days riveted to my computer while my Golden Retriever slept away her days in her new dog bed heavenly lounge I had just bought her. We belived that an appropriate dog bed was essential to her health, since she was spending so much time in it. So we went to this amazing site called Good Night Dog (goodnightdog.com) where we eventually found a color scheme that matched our den. I love their dog beds, especially the washable fabric selections. Every now and then Maxie would pad over to lay her head in my lap asking me what was going on and making me feel a bit guilty. I was no longer playing with her. I could barely drag myself away from some of the games to take her for a walk so she could do her business and get a bit of exercise. Fortunately my extensive search for a new dog bed was an obvious success. I noticed that my two cats also liked it since they would be curled up on the circular dog bed whenever Maxie and I returned from a walk. Good old Maxie would gently nose them aside when she returned to her comfy bed. And wasn't that final match between Germany and Brazil a doozy. The Brazilians produced some sparkling football and it was a deserved win for them. A fifth championship. I guess the Brazilian showed all the naysayers just ho wrong they were.

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South Korea Takes Fourth in 2002 FIFA World Cup

An unfortunate ending to the party saw South Korea go down 3-2 to Turkey in the 2002 World Cup third-place playoff in Taegu (Daegu) on the evening of June 29.

Despite finishing off the tournament with two losses, however, the home team were forced to stay on the field for some time after the final whistle to acknowledge ovation after resounding ovation from their adoring support.

In fact, the only exception to what was a good-natured night all-round came when FIFA president Sepp Blatter, emerging for the presentation at the end, was roundly booed by large sections of the crowd. South Koreans were angered by what they saw as the FIFA chiefs meddling in tournament affairs following South Korea's match with Italy, and many were obviously prepared to let him know.

Guus Hiddink and his team would dearly have loved to send the fans home celebrating one more win, but in the end, a couple of enforced changes to the team upset the balance and by the time they recovered, the match was beyond them.

One of the biggest worries all along for South Korea had been what would happen in the case of an injury at the back. The fans will look back now and thank their lucky stars it didn't happen at a more critical stage.

Guus Hiddink decided not to take a chance on the fitness of defenders Kim Tae-young and Choi Jin-cheul. Lee Min-sung and midfielder Yoo Sang-chul took their places, and it was painfully obvious that the new three-man unit had not played together before.

Goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae watched in bewilderment as his defense came apart at the seams. Within just over half-an-hour, Lee had let in as many goals as he had in the previous six matches put together.

While his teammates have been putting together the best string of results ever by a Turkish team, Hakan Sukur has had a subdued tournament. The Parma striker did manage to bag himself a souvenir by catching Hong Myung-bo in possession on the edge of the area and striding through to score the fastest World Cup finals goal of all time with just 11 seconds gone. His detractors might well have asked why the ``Bull of the Bosphorus waited until this match to open his World Cup account.

The home side were on level terms just seven minutes later, courtesy of one of the best goals of the tournament.

A mazy run from Song Chong-gug won a free-kick a little over 25 yards from goal, and Lee Eul-yong, who had missed a penalty in the same goal when South Korea played the U.S.A. at this stadium, hit a wickedly curling free-kick that grazed the inside of the post, giving Rustu Recber no chance.

South Korea were still producing some of the imaginative attacking play that brought them this far, but at the back, things were going from bad to worse.

Whatever the merits of having Yoo Sang-chul in defense, his physical presence was missed in midfield, and in the 13th minute Turkey went ahead again as the Koreans lost possession going forward. Breaking into the left-hand side of the area, Hakan drew Lee Woon-jae and slid the ball across for Ilhan Mansiz to turn into the empty net.

Ahn Jung-hwan almost made it 2-2 eight minutes later, twisting and turning before firing in a shot that the Turkish goalkeeper did well to tip over, but with 31 minutes gone, South Korea were 3-1 down.

The defending was again slack as Ilhan played a one-two with Hakan, Yoo Sang-chul and Lee Min-sung both diving in on the latter as he returned the pass for his teammate to chip over the advancing Lee Woon-jae.

A tremendous drive just over the bar from Song Chong-gug seven minutes into the second half suggested South Korea may rally, but Turkey picked up the pace again and Kim Tae-young, in as a half-time replacement for Hong Myung-bo, was not short of action.

Almost unrelenting pressure in the closing stages almost went unrewarded for South Korea, a combination of tight defense, fine goalkeeping and profligate finishing conspiring to keep them at bay until injury time when Song Chong-gug's deflected shot provided them with a consolation goal.

Despite frantic efforts in the minute that remained, the night was destined to end in frustration.

The same could hardly be said, however, for a tournament in which South Korean football, and its fans, won respect and admiration worldwide.